Method and system for adaptively modifying diagnostic vehicle information

1. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform the functions of: receiving diagnostic vehicle information including at least one procedure for diagnosing a cause of a fault that is experienced by an apparatus under diagnosis; identifying textual modifications that have been made to the diagnostic vehicle information; storing in a library of transformations the textual modifications made to the diagnostic vehicle information; identifying an intended output type of the diagnostic vehicle information; for each textual modification, identifying a reason for making the textual modification within the diagnostic vehicle information, wherein identifying the reason includes abbreviating text in the diagnostic vehicle information, expanding an abbreviation of text in the diagnostic vehicle information, removing a picture from the diagnostic vehicle information, or inserting a picture into the diagnostic vehicle information; and storing in the library of transformations an identifier for each textual modification indicating (i) the reason for making the textual modification and (ii) the intended output type of the diagnostic vehicle information within which to make the textual modification.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising a user reviewing the diagnostic information and making the modifications.

3. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform the functions of: receiving diagnostic vehicle information including at least one procedure for diagnosing a cause of a fault that can be experienced by an apparatus under diagnosis; identifying an intended output type for which the diagnostic vehicle information will be used; searching within a library for textual modifications to make to the diagnostic vehicle information based on the intended output type; presenting a user with suggested textual modifications to make substitutions to the diagnostic vehicle information; creating transformation statistics indicating when the user agrees with the suggested textual modifications by recording whether the user accepts the suggested textual modifications to be made to the diagnostic vehicle information; and wherein if the transformation statistics for a given textual modification exceed a predetermined threshold, automatically modifying the diagnostic vehicle information using the suggested textual modification.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 3 , further comprising adaptively learning to automatically modify the diagnostic vehicle information.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the intended output type for which the diagnostic vehicle information will be used includes a handheld diagnostic device, a computer program and a printed manual.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein identifying the intended output type for which the diagnostic vehicle information will be used comprises receiving user input indicating the intended output type.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein searching within the library for textual modifications to make to the diagnostic vehicle information comprises comparing text within the diagnostic vehicle information with textual modifications in the library.

8. A method comprising: receiving diagnostic vehicle information including at least one procedure for diagnosing a cause of a fault that is experienced by an apparatus under diagnosis; identifying an intended output type for which the diagnostic vehicle information will be used; identifying within a library, textual modifications to make to the diagnostic vehicle information based on the intended output type; for identified textual modifications, determining modification statistics, the modification statistics indicating whether a given textual modification should be accepted based on past experience; based on the modification statistics, modifying the diagnostic vehicle information according to the identified textual modifications; accepting the identified textual modifications if the modification statistics are above a predetermined threshold; and rejecting the identified textual modifications if the modification statistics are below a predetermined threshold.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising: presenting the identified textual modifications to a user; and the user determining whether to accept the identified textual modifications.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the modification statistics indicate whether a textual modification is always accepted, is only accepted for specific outputs, or is never accepted based on past experience.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein modifying the diagnostic vehicle information includes abbreviating text in the diagnostic vehicle information, adding pictures or animations to the diagnostic vehicle information, adding hypertext links in the diagnostic vehicle information, or expanding a word in the diagnostic vehicle information.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising creating the modification statistics.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein creating the modification statistics comprises recording whether a user accepts suggested modifications.